Preview (partial song; no chords displayed)

I'm not going to say that Leave Here a Stranger is a classic CD by any
means, especially since it's the second straight SF CD with only nine
songs and no real epics. Still, there's some gorgeous driving pop on this
album, and no song is better than "Give Up the War" the beautiful and
since "The Voyager", maybe his best ever. This is an easy choice for my
first tab from this CD. Hopefully more will follow.
After three albums of half-step down tuning, Jason finally has left his
guitar in standard tuning for this album. So no retuning required, it's EADGBE.
NOTE: Do not try to figure out how to play this without playing along with
the CD. I have tried to put the chord changes as close to where they are
as possible, but there's no way to really learn the timing without playing along.
Fmaj7 Em7 Fmaj7 Em7
e-----------0-----|-----------------|-----------0-----|--------------------|
B-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
G-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
D--------------2--|-2/(5)-----------|--------------2--|-2/(5)----\-(2)-----|
A-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
D-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
Fmaj7 Em7 Fmaj7
e-----------0-----|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
B-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
G-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
D--------------2--|-2/(5)----\-(2)--|-0--0--h2--------|--------------------|
A-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|
D-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------------|


VERSE
C
I read what they write
G Fmaj7
God's men of before
Cmaj7 G Fmaj7
It's simply that I am still afraid to give up the war
Cmaj7
I've played all the chords
G Fmaj7
And I guess I get bored
Cmaj7 G Fmaj7
I wanna do it right, be someone like Paul
Cmaj7 G Fmaj7
It's simply that he was not afraid, he never gave up the war
Cmaj7
And to live when you're down
G Fmaj7 G
And live when you're always leaving
Fmaj7 G Fmaj7 G Fmaj7 G
I wanna be things, always leaving
Am G Fmaj7 Am G Fmaj7
Pressing on
(the lead line on that last Fmaj7 is (A----7--5--3--2-2)
C
I know what they say
G Fmaj7
And I know there's the law
Cmaj7 G Fmaj7
It's simply that I am still afraid, I wanna give up the war
Cmaj7 G Fmaj7
I've played all the chords, doesn't matter at all
C
And live when you're down
G Fmaj7 G
And live when you're always leaving
Fmaj7 G Fmaj7 G Fmaj7 G
I wanna be things, always leaving
Am G Fmaj7 Am G Fmaj7
Pressing on
The next part just rocks between Cmaj7 and Fmaj7 with some very orchestral
lead guitar work, then jumps back into the "always leaving" part. Pick it
up from there. Then, as Jason sings the "I wanna be things" line
repeatedly at the end, it's back to Cmaj7 / Fmaj7 and the song fades out.
I haven't tabbed every lead guitar note and I don't plan to. Figuring the
little parts out is a fun exercise, or you can do your own little improvisation
in the C major scale. Just remember, with any Starflyer song, less lead is more.
Here's the chords.
Fmaj7 - (x03210)
Em7 - (022030)
C - (x32010)
G - (320003)
Cmaj7 (x32000)
right. Also, playing the G that way instead of (320033) increases the
melancholy nature. Playing it the stronger way is not recommended.
Obviously a very easy, and very rewarding, song to learn. As with all my
tabs I guarantee 99% accuracy, but if you have any suggestions or
corrections, or you need more help with this song, please feel free to
e-mail me at stinger31@excite.com. I have studied Starflyer and Jason's
guitar technique intensely through the years and know how to play every
Starflyer song properly, so if you would like to request a tab, please do
so. And make sure to e-mail me if you get some use out of this tab.
Thanks for reading, and God bless!
~stinger~